So "This American Life" had another great show this week you should check out if you don't already listen to the show.
One segment of the show was devoted to remembering Studs Turkel, a Chicago reporter who spent time recording the oral histories of regular Americans. The interviews featured on the show were from a series he did for radio called "Hard Times," focusing on stories from the Great Depression.
One woman's recollection in particular gave me goose bumps. While it's more than a six word story, it really does an incredible job at summing up the emotions and anger of this era in a short amount of space. I thought I'd share:
"And then of course the war came and the Depression was cured by a war. Which was one hell of a note. And all these kids that I had, who were growing up, disappeared. And it was very, very quiet. The young were gone and some of them came back, and some of them didn't."
Great stuff, and a testament to the power of the stories 'ordinary' people can tell.
ReplyDeleteTo add a layer to the Studs Terkel theme ... Years ago, James Taylor wrote some songs based on some of Terkel's work. One of them, "Millworker," is among Taylor's best songs, I think. He's taken the monotony and longing of a woman's story and written a plaintive, even haunting song. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2MQ04ESSx8